


Grace Obtained

by alexcat



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: M/M, My Slashy Valentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 02:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13560816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: It is time to sail but Legolas does not want to go alone.





	Grace Obtained

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tabru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabru/gifts).



_Here follows one of the last notes in the Red Book  
We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Gloin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf and Dwarf. If this is true, then it is strange indeed: that a Dwarf should be willing to leave Middle-earth for any love, or that the Eldar should receive him, or that the Lords of the West should permit it. But it is said that Gimli went also out of desire to see again the beauty of Galadriel; and it may be that she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him. More cannot be said of this matter. _  
**The Return of the King: Appendix A**   
~~~

The King was dead. 

Legolas knew that he no longer had a purpose here in Middle Earth. He had stayed too long as it was. The sea longing got worse with each passing day. 

But he didn’t want to leave without seeing one person one more time. 

Gimli. 

They had been much to one another. They had been _all_ to one another as well. 

He rode the streets of Ithilien, noting that though they were few, there were still elves in the city. He wondered if they felt the urge to sail as strongly as he did. He never spoke to any of them about it, as if not speaking of it would make it go away. 

But it never went away. 

He had not seen Gimli in several years. Both of them had become busy with their own lives and it became too easy to say that he would visit next week, next month, next year until too many years had passed and the end had come. 

It was time to go home. 

*

Gimli was not terribly surprised when he saw the elf ride up on a white horse that looked much like Arod had looked. All the elf’s horses looked like that. Gimli smiled and rose from his chair beside the cave entrance. He hurried to greet his old friend. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked in a gruff voice that would have fooled anyone not knowing his fondness for the elf. 

“I am thinking of a journey and came to visit you before I undertake it.” 

The two of them never said _exactly_ what they meant. Understatement was common and their kin had learned to decipher their words into their real meaning. They embraced awkwardly and paused to look one at the other. Gimli had become old and grey though he was still strong and vital. He was wrinkled and his beard was very long and nearly white now. Legolas looked much the same to most people but Gimli saw the tiny lines and the scars. He also saw the sorrow in his friend’s eyes. 

“He is gone then?” 

“Aye.” Legolas followed him into the cave and accepted a flagon of ale. “He was older than most men and he was tired. It was time. Arwen-” He stopped, unable to go on for a moment. “She could not bear life without him and she wasted away. Her brothers buried her in Cerin Amroth.”

Gimli smiled sadly, looking outside the cave. He did not see the forest but the past, the beautiful girl who’d become Aragorn’s queen. Only one other was as beautiful as she was and that one he would never forget. 

“So ye’ll sail away then?” 

Legolas nodded. “It is time. My father and Celeborn remain here in Middle Earth. I have seen neither of them in many years. Perhaps they will protect the forests. Perhaps Celeborn will tend Arwen’s grave.”

“When will you go then?” 

“I will build a ship and then sail it to the West.”

They sat for a long while, saying nothing at all. 

“Do you remember the day we met at Imladris, lad? I thought you were the most insufferable creature on earth.” Gimli said. “And you were, too.”

“I was terrified of Elrond. My father made me come tell him and Gandalf that _we_ had lost Gollum. I thought the wizard might flog me. Or that Elrond would.” Legolas smiled at the memory. “I didn’t imagine that a bunch of filthy Dwarves would be there!” 

“I was sure that if I didn’t go on the quest, you would steal the ring. And we wanted it. We thought we could handle it.” 

Legolas laughed. “Only dwarves and elves are so obsessed with shiny things.” 

“Men are greedy too… they want land and power as well.”

They sat in silence for a bit. 

“Exactly when are you leaving?” Gimli poured them another glass full of ale. His people traded for the ale at a nearby human village. The Rohirrim liked drinking almost as much as they did horses.

“Soon. I shall go back to Ithilien and begin work on my little ship. I shall sail it down the Anduin to the sea.” 

“Do you know how to build it? Do you know how to sail?” Gimli looked skeptical. 

“I can learn. There are still some of Cirdan’s builders around. Perhaps I can find a dwarf to help me fell some trees to build with.” 

“I can do that. I laugh to think of an elf with an axe! I don’t think you’ll shoot down many trees with that bow!” 

Legolas and Gimli sat all afternoon and talked of the war of the Rings, of the many people they’d lost. Then they spoke of the present, of their villages and the news of loved ones. Soon Legolas rose from his seat. 

“I must go home. But I will return soon and we shall build that boat.”

Gimli nodded, wondering if he’d seen the last of the elf. 

*

Time passed, perhaps a year or more before Gimli saw the elf again. Legolas appeared as he had before. There he was, riding his white horse and acting as if he’d seen Gimli only yesterday. 

“Are you ready to help me build my ship?” Legolas asked as he dismounted. “I have come for you.” 

Gimli was surprised but not displeased at all. He loved his family, his wife and his sons, but he loved Legolas more than anyone. It was an unspoken love and one that he did not know if the elf shared. But he loved him and had done so since soon after the first time he’d seen him. He’d had his bag packed since Legolas had visited the year before, packed and ready.

They traveled to a dock on the Anduin near Ithilien. Legolas had a small house there. He already had much wood cut and ready as well as other tools needed. There were elves and men from the village who helped as well. 

“You are ready then…” Gimli wasn’t sure how he felt about this. 

“It will take us some time, you know. Maybe even a few years. It has to be big enough to carry supplies and live on for some time though I have no real idea how far away the West is. No one has ever returned but Cirdan, and he never said.”

Gimli settled in quickly. Legolas had a room ready for him and arranged for his tools to be brought from his own home. Actually, it seemed to Gimli that Legolas had arranged for all his possessions to be here. 

They got to work the next day, working on the framework. There were elves and men from the village who were brought in to help out and the skeleton of the ship took shape rather quickly. At sunset, they ate a hearty meal of stew that Legolas made from some rabbits. He bought bread from the bakery in Ithilien and some ale for Gimli as well. 

“So do you still have Galadriel’s gift?” Legolas asked him as they ate the last bites of their dinner. 

“Oh yes.” He patted his pocket. “I always keep them near my heart.” He pulled a small cloth packet out and opened it. There lay the golden hairs from Galadriel. They still shone as brightly as gold. He smiled and put them away. “Do you miss those days?” Gimli asked as he looked up at the elf.

“The fighting and killing? No. The other things… all of us together, yes. Aragorn was a fine king and I shall miss him always. He was a good friend, too.” 

Gimli nodded. Aragorn had been a good man, better than most, and he had been proud to follow him and to see him crowned king. 

They talked into the night and finally, each went to his own room. 

Building a ship was not an endeavor finished in a fortnight, or even a year. Legolas and Gimli worked on the ship most days all day. There was more to building it than just the shape. It had to be seaworthy and big enough for supplies for the journey. Legolas also wanted it to be beautiful to look at, a ship worthy of the Undying Lands. Cirdan’s ships had all been beautiful to behold as they sailed out of sight on their journey home. Legolas wanted that for his ship as well. 

Not long after they began work on the ship, Legolas knew that he did not want to sail alone. 

He also knew that it was Gimli he wanted to sail with him. 

When the ship was almost done, Legolas proposed a journey. 

“Let us visit your home in the Glittering Caves again and Fangorn Forest. Let us say goodbye to the places that we lived in.” 

“You make it sound as if I am going to be leaving, too,“ Gimli said, not daring to hope that was what Legolas meant. 

“I wish you to come with me, to sail to the West with me.”

Gimli was surprised, but very pleased. He wanted to hug the elf. But he nodded instead. It wouldn’t do to give the elf any idea that he was getting soft in his old age, would it? 

“I’d see her again, the lady?” He asked hopefully. 

Legolas smiled kindly and nodded. “I am sure she would be pleased to see you, my friend.” 

So they went to the Glittering Caves. Legolas met all the dwarf folk, the men, the women as well as the children. They all adored him and after dinner every evening, he regaled Gimli’s kin with stories of the dwarf’s bravery and daring do. He often had several little ones piled in his lap and on either side of him wherever he sat. Gimli seemed a bit embarrassed but always pleased at how much his family and his loved ones loved Legolas. His grandchildren called him Papa Legolas. 

Gimli’s wife was gracious as she talked to Legolas after Gimli had gone to sleep by the fire one evening. “You will see him safely across the sea?” 

He nodded solemnly. 

“I am no fool, elf. He has loved you since long before we were wed. I knew that even though he did not. I do not begrudge his going with you now. I have all my children and all their little ones to love and care for. You never married and had a family, so he is your family.”

He was deeply humbled by her understanding and her words. “I thank you.” 

“Just take care of him. Make sure he sees that woman elf,” she smiled. “He certainly told us all of her beauty and her graciousness often enough.” 

“I will see to it,” he told her. 

They set out for the forest the next morning after a hearty breakfast. 

Fangorn Forest was green again. There was little evidence of the damage from the wars. This was where they met Gandalf the White and where the Ents had lived and guarded the trees. It was only fitting that it grow back with tall trees and rich green undergrowth now that men and elves had left it. 

They spent several weeks among the trees, both riding Legolas’ white horse, as they had those many years ago. They’d stop when they found a small clearing for the horse to rest while they hunted and made their own dinner over a small fire. 

Finally they arrived back in Ithilien. The ship was ready. Finishing touches had been added by those who helped them build it and it was stocked and ready. It looked just like Cirdan’s ship, only a bit smaller. It was painted grey and had pure white sails. 

Gimli stared at it for a moment and asked Legolas, “Are you sure you know how to sail, laddie?” 

Legolas smiled. “That I do. I have been preparing for this day since the end of the war.”

“I’m not very fond of water, ye know.” 

Legolas nodded. “We will be fine. I’ll try hard not to throw you overboard,” he said, hiding a grin.

“How long will we be at sea?” Gimli was very nervous, suddenly. The sea was vast and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be away from dry land for that long. 

“I don’t know but once we get to the mouth of the Anduin, if you change your mind, I will let you off the boat and you can go back home.” 

Gimli nodded. He could live with that. “Let’s go then, elf.” 

Legolas nodded and together they boarded the beautiful little vessel. Gimli pulled up the anchor as Legolas untied them from the dock. They used the rudder to guide them out into the river current and they began to move toward the sea. 

*

Neither one of them could tell you how many days they sailed. 

It didn’t matter anymore. 

The dock was in sight. Legolas had better eyes than Gimli and he saw her in the distance. The Lady Galadriel. She had come to welcome them to the Undying Lands. 

He pointed her out to Gimli and felt a surge of pure happiness as Gimli sighed at the sight of her. 

“We are home, my friend. We are home at last.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Larry for the beta.


End file.
